"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Sky asked.

It was a late night, their last night in Rome - and after dinner Sky had gone out with Hawk to get some gelato and enjoy the beautiful night. They had just bought cups of ice cream from a small booth near the Trevi Fountain - though Sky preferred to call it by its Italian name, Fontana di Trevi - and were walking towards it while eating their gelatos.

"Sure, what is it?" Hawk glanced at her and licked his spoon clean.

"Did you ever... find out who trashed Miyagi-Do?"

It was clear Hawk hadn't expected that question, as his eyes widened slightly at her words. He swallowed and Sky saw how his sharp Adam's apple moved under the skin as he turned his glance back at the gelato and started picking it with his spoon.

"No," he replied and took a small spoonful. "Nobody knows a thing. But you should've seen what Sensei Lawrence put us through - shit, it was brutal! He made us do like thousands of burpees and pushups and stuff. And no one came clean."

They had now arrived at the square where the fountain was, and it was packed with people, but Sky made her way through the crowd and found a couple of free spots where they could sit down at the edge of the fountain and finish their gelatos.

"Well, that can mean one thing only," she said, crossing her legs.

"What?"

"That someone in Cobra Kai is a lying asshole."

That made Hawk look up from his ice cream, and a pained expression flashed on his face.

"You shouldn't say that," he said, his voice suddenly dry and raspy. "They are your teammates. Sensei Kreese said that—"

"Yeah, I don't give a shit about what Sensei Kreese said." Sky snapped and shoved her spoon into her ice cream almost violently, digging out a large portion of it.

Hawk made a face. The muscles on his jaw worked in a way that told Sky he wanted to say something but then didn't.

"What?" she asked. "Spit it out."

"It's nothing," he muttered but didn't sound very convincing.

"It's clearly something," Sky said while taking a small spoonful of her ice cream. The gelato was too thick and too sweet, she should've chosen another flavor.

"Is there something you aren't telling me?" she asked, as Hawk still hadn't said anything and was staring at his ice cream, stonefaced.

"I just... it's just that—" a short silence. He let out a long sigh, his shoulders sagged. "It's just that you're going to have to get along with Kreese."

"No, I'm pretty sure I don't have to."

"He's going to be your Sensei, Sky," Hawk replied with a resigned tone. "Whether you like it or not."

"You know what?" Sky said, attacking her gelato ferociously with the tiny plastic spoon. "Forget that I even asked."

"Sky—"

"I said, forget it. It's our last night in Rome and I don't wanna spend it fighting about John Kreese."

Hawk didn't say anything to that, he just gave a silent, sharp nod and returned to his ice cream, the tense posture of his shoulders telling Sky about some inner battle he was fighting. Probably he was still thinking about Kreese and how awesome he was, and that was a topic Sky didn't want to return to, so she didn't ask more.

"Had I realized the Nutella ice cream was actually nothing but frozen Nutella, I would have chosen something else," Sky said after a couple of minutes, to get something else to think about. She had lost her appetite and was now just picking the melting goo in a cup with her small, plastic spoon. "This is too much, even for me."

Hawk let out a small laugh, the sound was low and raspy in the dark, hot night. "You're admitting that something is too sweet for you?"

"Not too sweet as such," Sky shrugged. "Too... something. Besides, it's way too hot to eat something this chocolaty. I'm gonna just throw it away."

She stood up and walked to the nearest trash bin that was overflowing already, but managed to stuff her cup of Nutella in there after a moment's struggle.

As she sat back down at the edge of the fountain, Hawk offered her a sympathetic smile. He looked so kind, so loving - nothing of the tenseness and agitation that had been there only moments ago, remained. His whole attention seemed to be on Sky, and it made her heart flutter in her chest.

"I'm sorry. You want mine?" He asked with that low, raspy tone that Sky loved, and held up his own cup which had only one taste - vanilla - and nothing more. "Or should I get you another one?"

She shook her head, replying to his smile. "Nah, It's fine. I got a sugar high already."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"Shut up, smart-ass," Sky smirked and leaned closer to him to lock their lips in a soft, short kiss. His mouth was hot on hers, but his tongue tasted like vanilla gelato, which Sky thought was a taste that fitted him perfectly.

She broke the kiss, and let Hawk finish his ice cream while breathing in the atmosphere that surrounded them.

It was their last night in Rome, and thus they were at Fontana di Trevi. It was a tradition that on your last night in Rome you should always go to Fontana di Trevi and toss a coin in there as a promise of a future return. Sky had never skipped this tradition, even if Dad kept muttering something about it being superstitious nonsense.

But Sky happened to love superstitious nonsense. It had a special place in her heart.

The night was absolutely breathtaking - the air was hot and soft, like black velvet, and it was filled with music that echoed from the restaurants, filled with people's laughter and joy and, thick with hope and love and a hint of sadness, because everyone was here for the same reason - they were all here to toss their coins because they were leaving Rome and hoping to come back one day.

Sky pulled her wallet from her purse and took a small coin, then switched it for a bigger one - they said the value of the coin didn't really matter, but she wanted to make sure the token was worthy. For a moment she let the coin rest on her palm, and suck her down the memory lane into a night quite like this, two years ago.

She is sitting on this exact spot with Kat. It's their last night in Rome and the last night of this vacation that has been the best either one of them has ever had.

They had a blast in Florence, eating too much pasta, getting kicked out of the Accademia for checking out David's ass, running through the endless galleries of Uffizi not stopping to look at one of the hundreds of paintings about the Annunciation but getting many laughs over Caravaggio's Medusa and just chilling by the pool of the villa, drinking so much aranciata that Kat finally pukes under the lemon tree.

But Rome is treating them even better. After all, Florence is nothing but a small renaissance town - but Rome is a beast. It is a buzzing beehive of millions of people, it is the capital of love and passion and food and fashion and music and clubs and everything Sky loves, and she's had the time of her life exploring it with Kat.

They are both 14 years old, pretty and sassy and flirty, and they have both had their first summer romances here during this week with some young people they met in a cafe on their first day in Rome. Nothing serious of course, just having some fun. Sky is kissed for the first time in her life in the alley behind her hotel, where she sneaks out after Dad goes to bed, and she will remember Valentino's soft lips, his hands on her waist, and the scent of his aftershave for the rest of her life. Kat on the other hand makes out with a french girl named Anaïs, who has pale skin, short hazel hair and the most beautiful, large doe eyes Sky has ever seen.

In some ways, it is easier being gay - or bi in Kat's case - than being straight. Dad isn't suspecting a thing when the girls invite Anaïs into their room - and Sky spends two hours reading The Name of the Rose in the bathroom while the other two girls have the time of their life in the bed. Not that Sky doesn't want Kat to have fun, but it doesn't seem fair somehow - if Sky invited Valentino into their room, Dad would have a fit.

On their last night, the gang meets up at Fontana di Trevi. Valentino is holding Sky's hand and trying to lure her into some more private location to make out, but Sky keeps telling him no. Sure, she likes the butterflies in her stomach when they kiss and she loves his soft lips on hers, but she knows it's time for goodbyes and she doesn't want to get a broken heart over something that has to end. She knows this isn't love, it is a crush, nothing more, and that's how she wants to remember it.

Kat has already ditched Anaïs, or so it seems, for the poor French girl has red-rimmed eyes and is looking absolutely miserable, whereas Kat is her own, radiant self - confident, loud and sassy, and making dirty jokes that make everyone - except for Anaïs - laugh hysterically.

The air is hot and black and smells like weed that Valentino has gotten from somewhere, and Sky still tastes it on her lips, as she stands up to throw a coin into the fountain.

"3000 euros," Kat says. "Every day. Imagine that."

Sky looks at the 50 cent coin on her hand, and throws it into the turquoise water.

"I'll be back," she says as the coin disappears under the surface. She knows you're supposed to throw the coin with your right hand over your left shoulder, your back turned to the fountain, but she prefers to see when the coin disappears, and make her promise of return at that moment.

"Tornerai da me?" Valentino asks softly, his lips brushing Sky's hair as his arm snakes around her waist.

"Tornerò a Roma," Sky replies but lets the boy kiss her anyway. He is a good kisser, and why not enjoy it while it lasts?

"Yo, Bitch! Here it goes!" Kat laughs, as she tosses her own coin. The water splashes, the coin disappears, floating down in a swirl of soft circles and underwater lights. Her face is illuminated with the night lights and reckless joy, and Sky's heart is suddenly full of love for that girl who is her sister, who is her other half.

Kat walks to Sky laughing, showing all her white teeth.

"Come on, Let's go already," she says. "Enough of the face sucking."

Valentino looks like he's about to say something, but Sky places a finger on his lips and silences him.

"Arrivederci, amore," she breaths and removes her finger, placing one more soft kiss on his lips, before turning away. She takes Kat's hand and they leave the square, leave their first romances because who needs that when they have each other? They leave the music and the crowd and the drunken tourists, they leave behind Anaïs with tears in her doe-eyes and Valentino with his soft lips that are like made for kissing, they leave behind their coins that move softly in the currents of the water in the bottom of Fontana di Trevi, and they leave it all with light hearts, with joy in their steps, because they know.

They know they'll be back here.

They will return together, for a thousand times more to have nights just like this, nights that are so full of love and joy that it is impossible not to scream and laugh it all out as they run through the maze of narrow, cobblestone streets.

Sky returned to the moment, only when she tasted the tears. The two Euro coin was still on her palm, but wet droplets were splashing on it, and they didn't come from the fountain behind her back.

Shit, so fucking stupid!

She clenched her fist tight around the coin, hiding it from her view, and wiped her cheeks with her other hand.

"Sky, are you okay?" Hawk rasped, and Sky realized he had wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, was now holding her tight against his side. His empty gelato cup lay forgotten on the ground by his feet.

She managed a nod.

"Stupid memory," she breathed through her tight throat, wiping her face again and forcing the tears down. "I came here with Kat... two years ago. A lot of good it did her to toss that coin."

Hawk let out a soft breath. His arm around her shoulders was comforting, his skin soft and hot against her own.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

She opened her fist and looked at the coin in her palm. The memory of Valentino's lips was suddenly fresh on her, the tears in Anaïs' eyes, Kat's wide smile with sharp, white teeth, the smell of weed in the black night. There was no way she could put all that in words, no way she could make Hawk feel what she had felt that night.

"Not much to tell," she said silently after a short silence. "We came here with some friends, tossed our coins. It was a great night." Her throat was tight, it was still difficult to get the words out. "We were happy."

Hawk didn't reply. He gave her time to get herself together, or to fall apart - whichever she chose to do. He simply held her close, his hand rubbing soothing circles on her upper back.

"I still wanna throw the coin," he said after a while. "Do you?"

"I do," she said. "Because even if I can never come here with Kat again, I sure as Hell want to come here with you."

She stood up, her legs still a bit shaky, and threw the coin with force, it flew far and dipped silently into the water almost in the middle of the fountain.

"Yo, Bitch. Here it goes." She whispered. "Goodbye, sister."

Hawk didn't hear her, her silent voice was drowned into the noise of the square, of the laughing of hundreds of people, the music, the sound of the water. He tossed his own coin after Sky, flipped it so that it bounced off the surface of the water several times before sinking into the glimmering water.

"Show off," Sky smirked, and he replied with a dry laugh.

"Admit that you love it."

Sky turned to look at him. He was so tall compared to her, the mohawk adding extra inches to his height. In his stylish T-shirt and shorts, he looked cool, tough, sexy - but the way he was looking at her when their eyes met was so gentle and kind, that it took her breath away. She didn't deserve that love, didn't deserve his kindness, didn't deserve the way he always took care of her - but she wasn't going to turn her back on all that.

"I love it," she said, snaking her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest to hide her sudden emotion. The arms he wrapped around her body were strong and she knew he'd keep her standing no matter what, that he would always be there for her, that there could never be anything that would rip them apart.

They had tossed the coins into Fontana di Trevi, and they would be back here together, someday.

"You wanna go back to the hotel now?" Hawk asked, his lips brushing her temple. "It's getting late."

Sky shook her head. "I wanna find some dark alley and make out with you. You in?"

"Fuck Yeah, I'm in," he rasped, burying his hands in her curls.

But they didn't go to find a dark alley. They stayed where they were, standing next to the fountain, surrounded by people and night and music and laughter, and he kissed her, kissed her so that she forgot everything, every last painful memory, every last insecurity, they all melted away like her Nutella gelato, and all that was left was the way his lips devoured hers, his hands that ran up and down her back.

Later, when all went to Hell and she lost him, this was the night she remembered.

Maybe she should have tossed the coin with her right hand over her left shoulder after all.

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❤️🙈